APPLETON, WIS. — Thomas Baer, a 1974 Lawrence graduate and one of the nation’s pioneers in the development of laser applications, returns to campus to deliver the address “LaserFest! The 50thYear Anniversary of the Laser” Friday, Sept. 18, at 3 p.m. in Youngchild Hall Room 115. The physics colloquium is free and open to the public.
Baer, the executive director of the Stanford Photonics Research Center at Stanford University and president of the Optical Society of America, will discuss the 50-year history and impact of the laser since its first demonstration in 1960.
Credited as an inventor on more than 60 patents, Baer has been active in numerous scientific areas employing optics, among them atomic and molecular spectroscopy, ultra-fast lasers, solid-state lasers, and laser scanning fluorometry of blood cells.
He has enjoyed a successful career spanning both academia and industry beginning with Spectra-Physics, Inc., where he spent 11 years in various positions, including vice-president of research. He co-founded a new company in 1989, Spectra-Physics Laser Diode Systems, which used his research to commercialize diode and solid-state laser instruments.
As vice president of research at Biometric Imaging, Baer was instrumental in developing laser applications in the areas of AIDS monitoring, bone marrow transplant therapy and blood supply quality control.
In 1996, he founded Arcturus Bioscience, Inc., which pioneered the field of microgenomics — the precise molecular analysis of microscopic tissue samples. He served as the company’s chairman and CEO until 2005, leaving for his present position at Stanford.
In addition to a bachelor’s degree in physics from Lawrence, Baer earned a master’s degree and a doctorate degree in atomic physics from the University of Chicago.
